Mosaic of Hamadan Gathering

Mosaic of Hamadan Gathering

Image by Hamed Saber
Soudeh asked me to generate portraits mosaic of attendants of 3rd Iranian Flickr Gathering in Hamadan. I know, I'm too late ;)
We were 33 persons, from 7 to 58 years, from Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Hamadan, Tabriz, Paris (France), and Vienna (Austria).
My other photos of this gathering can be found here and all gathering photos can be found here.

This photo was added to flickr explore (interestingness) of 27 August 2006.
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About Hamadan (from this sorce by HORIZON, originally from WikiPedia):
more information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamedan
Hamedan is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. It had an estimated population of 550,284 in 2005.
Hamadan is believed to be amongst the oldest Iranian cities and one of the OLDEST in the world.
Hamadan is a green mountainous area on the foothills of the 3574-meter Alwand Mountain,in the mid west of Iran. The city is 1850 meters above sea level.
The special nature of this old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer to this city, located approximately 400km southwest of Tehran.

History
Golden Rhyton from Iran's Achaemenid period from Ecbatana. National Museum of Iran.Hamadan has a distinguished place among all historical cities of Iran and geographically located at 34°51'N 48°31'E.Some historians believe that Hamadan's construction dates back to 3000 BC and according to an inscribtion from the first Assyrian king , it is aributed to 1100 BC.
Hamadan was established by the Medes, and was the capital of the Median empire. It became then one of the multiple capital cities of the Achaemenid Dynasty and it has been referred to by several name variations throughout its long history, namely: Ecbatana (Median), Ecbatana (classical Greek rendition of Hagmatana) and several corruptions or mispronunciations of the previous two in subsequent centuries.
During the Parthian era, Ctesiphon was the capital of the country, and Hamadan the summer capital and residence of the Parthian rulers. After the Parthians, the Sassanids constructed their summer palaces in Hamadan. In the year 633 the war of Nahavand took place and Hamadan came into the hands of the muslim Arabs, at times it thrived and at times it witnessed poverty.
During the Buwayhids , it suffered much damage. In the 11th century, the Seljuks shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamadan.
The city of Hamadan which was always assaulted by the rise and fall of powers, was completely destroyed during the Timurid invasion. During the Safavid era the city thrived. Thereafter, in the year 18th century, Hamadan was surrendered to the Ottomans, but due to the courage and chivalry of Nadir Shah Afshar, Hamadan was cleared off the invaders and according to the peace treaty between Iran and the Ottomans , it was returned to Iran. The city of Hamadan lay on the Silk Road and even in the last centuries enjoyed good prospects in commerce and trade being on the main road network in the western region of the country.

Climate
Hamadan province lies in a temperate mountainous region to the east of Zagros. The vast plains of the north and northeast of the province are influenced by strong winds, that almost last throughout the year. The various air currents of this region are: the north and north west winds of the spring and winter seasons, which are usually humid and bring about rainfall. The west-east air currents that blow in the autumn, and the local winds that develop due to difference in air-pressure between the elevated areas and the plains, like the blind wind of the Asad Abad region. Hamadan being in the vicinity of the Alvand mountains has a cold, mountainous climate, with snowy winters. In fact it is one of the coldest cities in Iran. The temperature may drop below -30 °C on the coldest days. Heavy snowfalls are common during winter. Summer is short , and the weather is mild and pleasant and mostly sunny.

Culture
An example of a traditional Rug of Hamedan.Hamadan is also home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.

Handicrafts
Hamadan has always been well-known for handicrafts like leather and ceramic work as well as for its beautiful carpets.

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization lists 207 sites of historical and cultural significance in the city of Hamedan alone.
Legend has it that the biblical Esther is buried in Hamedan.
The scientist and writer known in the west as Avicenna (Abu Ali Sina) is buried in Hamedan.
The 11th century Persian poet Baba Taher is also interred in Hamedan.

Contemporary Culture
People of Hamedan are very proud of their old history. Another source of their pride is Avicenna (aka Bouali, Buali, Ebn-e-sina, Pur-e-Sina) who is buried in Hamedan. In Hamedan, you can find primary schools, secondary schools, high schools, colleges, and the main city's university names after him. Also, there are many shops and businesses named after him. The main street of Hamedan is also named Bouali. Bouali Street is a very busy one and in fact, a favorite pastime of Hamedanians is to troll up and down the street where they frequently bump into their acquaintances.

Attractions
Avicenna (Abu Ali Sina) Ibn Sina mausoleum
Baba Tahir Mausleum
Ali Sadr Cave
Gonbad-e Alavian
Ganj Nameh
Hamedan Stone Lion
Estakhr e Abbas Abad (an over-the-hill lake with a magnificent view to the city
Nazari House
Hamedan Museum of Natural History
Excavated Ancient Ecbatana City

Sister cities: Kulyab, Tajikestan

New York tango, Apr 2010 - 10

Image by Ed Yourdon
Note: this photo was published in an Aug 24, 2010 Photo-dot-Hadnews blog, with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page. It was also published in an Oct 7, 2010 Celebrity DayDreaming blog, as well as a Feb 23, 2012 Satellite Direct Gold blog, both with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page.

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Let me begin with a disclaimer: I do not dance the tango, and I know little or nothing about its history, its folklore, or even its steps and rhythms. I'm vaguely aware that it originated in Argentina (and Uruguay) in the 1890s, that a new style known as "tango nuevo" began to emerge in the late 1990s, and that various actors and actresses -- including Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger(!), among others -- have performed the tango in various movies. But beyond that, it never really occurred to me that it played any significant role here in the U.S.

That is, not until the summer of 2009, when I happened to return to my hotel, on a business trip to Washington, DC, just as a local gathering of tango aficionados was dancing to their music in a nearby square known as Freedom Plaza. I photographed the event (see my Flickr set Last tango in Washington) and learned from one of the participants that there were similar informal events in New York City, at the South Street seaport, during the summer and fall weekends. When I got back to New York, I searched on the Internet, and found a schedule of upcoming tango events just as my Washington acquaintance had indicated; but travel schedules, inclement weather, and other distractions prevented me from actually attending any of them; by the end of the autumn season, I had forgotten all about it.

For some reason, something reminded me of the tango again this spring -- perhaps some music that I overheard, perhaps a scene on some otherwise forgettable television show. In any case, I searched again on the Internet, and discovered that a tango "event" would be taking place on a Sunday afternoon -- but not at the South Street Seaport (on the east side of Manhattan, near the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges), but rather at Pier 45, where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in Greenwich Village. The event was scheduled to take place between 3:30 and 7:30 PM, and another quick search on the Internet informed me that sunset would occur at 7:30 PM. So I arrived a little before 6 PM, as the sun was beginning to drop down in the western sky, and photographed for a little more than an hour.

I captured some 522 images, of which 75 have survived in this Flickr set. For the majority of the photos, I stood at the end of the pier, with my back to the Hudson River and the sinking sun; the sun broke in and out of clouds on the horizon -- and because I was wearing sunglasses, I didn't fully appreciate the extent of sun-glare that was often striking the faces of the dancers, as well as the shadows where the sun wasn't hitting at all. But I think I recovered most of the inadvertent over-exposure and under-exposure with some post-processing on the computer... I was also able to get some shots facing westward and southward, so that you could see the New Jersey skyline behind the dancers; indeed, there are a couple of shots with the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge in the background. (Note to self: come back here at twilight, on a Sunday evening in mid-summer; it could well be even more spectacular.)

Since I have no personal expertise (or even competence) at the dance, there's not much that I can say about what's going on; I have to let the pictures speak for themselves. Though it wasn't universally true, I noticed several occasions where the women were taller than their partners; I gather that that's an advantage when the dancers are twirling and twisting around. Also, I had the distinct impression -- just as was the case in Washington last summer -- that few (if any) of the dancers were "couples" in the traditional sense. Indeed, many of them seemed to be strangers who had met for the first time at this tango event, but who seemed to enjoy the experience of the dance together. And others, from what little I could tell, might have encountered one another at previous tango events -- but had no other interactions or relationship with one another.

In any case, I had photographed everything I could imagine photographing by a little after 7 PM. I put away my camera equipment, walked a few blocks east to Hudson Street to enjoy a delicious dinner at a local restaurant with my wife, and made a note to check the Internet again for future tango events in Central Park and the South Street Seaport. If you'd like to pursue this on your own, check out Richard Lipkin's Guide to Argentine Tango in New York City.

October Cover Fakeness

Image by Nathan Marciniak
There is all sorts of hand-wringing about fake celebrities and their photoshopped beauty, but remember that even trains are artificially enhanced.

I think this latest flyer cover is quite funny. The selling point is that the car has a real metal finish, so it's shinier than regular plastic. The lower photo is realistic, that is more or less how it looks if you held it in your hand. The idea was to make a night scene with reflecting lights and whatnot.

Although I made a shiny version I liked, they wanted more shiny, so it ended up being this weird, over-the-top, garish gleaming thing. I'm like, "You're kidding, right?" When it was approved. Kinda funny.

My creation

Image by HenryLeongHimWoh
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlgKedQTw8Y

More of my travels photos: rivers-seas-canals.blogspot.com/

My latest blog posts:
ping.sg/user/88henry

Featured in Stomp: singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost2610.aspx

1. Las Vegas intergrated resorts, 2. Las Vegas, 3. Flower box, 4. Bangkok at night, 5. At Guangzhou, 6. LA, road to the houses of celebrities, 7. Las Vegas Show, featuring huge varieties of shows, 8. Group picture Lijang River, China, 9. The thrilling 360 degree roller coaster ride, 10. Dim Sum at Xian hotel, 11. Swiss Alpine, on the way to the peak, 12. High fashion shops in Milan, Italy, 13. Emperors offer prayers at these altars, 14. Living on the edge, Monte Carlo, 15. San Francisco harbour, 16. Chinatown, San Francisco, 17. Rows of flower pots lined the stilt houses of Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, 18. Outside a Lijang Cave, 19. Panda, 20. Tokyo Disneyland, 21. Windmills of Holland, 22. Taisekji, Japan, 23. San Fransico bay, 24. Geneva, Switzerland, 25. Tim Sum in Hong Kong, 26. The Coliseum, Italy, 27. Winter in Paris, 28. Turin river, 29. collage13, 30. collage12, 31. Piccadilly Circus of London, 32. collage8, 33. collage7, 34. Cycling throu 4 metal poles,, 35. collage5, 36. collage6

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Some interesting stories of my various trips:

More travels photo in:
picasaweb.google.com/8888.henry/MyPhotos

henryleongblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-exciting-boat-ride...